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Art & Cover
Starbite
Copyright © 2020 by Starbite
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or
reproduced in any manner without written permission from the
creator.
This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual events,
locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Printed in China.
First edition, August 2020.
Creative Director: Jemma M. Young
Edited by: Looseleaf Editorial & Production
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Foreward
When I started teaching at Utah Valley University, I didn’t have
an Instagram account. It was just another app in a long line of the
latest social media platforms that popped up post-Facebook. One that
I didn’t understand or participate in. To my art students, “Insta” was
“the shiz.” They would post their art there and then glue their faces
to their phones and hope that their art would get a couple hundred
likes. It didn’t take long before my students convinced me to start
posting my art on Instagram and I must admit, it was pretty cool to
see my posts get likes and to see how fast I gained followers. The app
also became a way for me to bond with my students. We would find
cool artist to follow and share them with each other. One artists was
a particular legend amongst my illustration students: an instagram
influencer known as “Starbite.”
I remember seeing Starbite’s art and understanding why it was
so popular. The style was a perfect marriage of the Disney house
style and anime/manga. It’s art with a nearly universal appeal
to Generation Z. What I didn’t know about Starbite was that they
attended Utah Valley University and that within the year I would
be teaching them in class. I should use the word “teaching” loosely—
perhaps grading would be a more applicable term. Starbite’s art was
so advanced that they didn’t require any instruction from me. In many
ways, when it came to teaching, Starbite was the instructor and I was
the student.
I grew up in the last generation that knew what the world was like
without computers. For many Gen X’ers, social media is a novelty,
a place to waste time and divert ourselves from the“real world.”
This is not the case with Starbite. The online world is Generation Z’s
natural environment ,and I’ve never had a student who navigated
that world better than Starbite. They taught me that social media
influence is the new hard currency. The more I paid attention to how
Starbite influenced people, the more I realized how the future will
have everybody eating out of the artist’s hands. Big companies are
no longer the gatekeepers of success—the talent is. They are training
themselves; they know how the system works better than the old
institutions do. They don’t need to prove themselves to anyone. The
proof of their success is in the art they create. This book is a testament
to Starbite’s undeniable talent and the artists of this generation that
are rewriting the rules. The best part? Starbite is just getting started.
I for one look forward to watching how bright that star will shine.
-Chad Hardin
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Process
My process is always changing and developing, but the end goal
of making something look animated or cinematic remains the same.
First I work on a gestural sketch and try to maintain as much
movement as possible, no matter what the pose. This part can
actually sometimes take the longest. Having a good under sketch
makes the final work stronger.
Next I add lines, which, to be honest, is my least favorite part. I
prefer sketching, and it can be hard to maintain fluidity during lining.
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When I start adding flat colors, I like to also color my lines
to achieve that ‘animated’ look. Here I’ll also make copies of
the piece and merge layers so that I can paint over areas that
need rendering or fixing up. In the end I’ll add extra layer
effects or color edits until I think it looks nice. Layer effects
are my best friend.
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Professor and Anya
This story takes place in 1956. After accidentally killing a former
colleague in self defense, a time-traveling-reality-bending curse
gets passed down to a young history professor, Check Techem.
Luckily, he can keep himself anchored in his own timeline as long
as he remembers his full name. Check is forced to navigate parallel
universes and alternate realities with his odd new friend Anya.
However, time traveling begins to take a toll on his mind, causing
him to question what he thought was his reality and his place in it.
Concepts for these two characters were developed from various
writings with my friend and editor @Vinegarcat. Anya is part of their
story and universe, The Bleedthrough Effect, while the Professor is
a character I made for a personal short story. We thought it would
be fun to come up with something involving them together, and it
developed into something all its own. We have developed various
stories involving these characters, as the parallel universe theme
allows us a lot of leeway for exploration. They are two misfits who
seem to always find each other in any world we throw them in.
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“Professor” Check Techem and a bee.
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Theo and Juby’s character Jamie. (@JubyArt on Instagram / @CutTimeComic on Twitter.)
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Professor and Anya.
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Hart and Professor.
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Gentlemantown
Gentlemantown is a surreal dark drama/comedy that
takes place in a fictional city obsessed with the materialistic
and superficial. It follows a rich, eccentric, entrepreneur Cliff
Cavelle and his new, amnesiac hire Theodore Thatcher. With
the help of Cavelle’s odd staff of employees, they uncover
unusual mysteries involving rival business owners, cursed
beauty products, and purchased immortality.
Gentlemantown is a character-driven story that deals a
lot with self image, corrupt business practices, and the overall
effect of modern advertising and consumerism.
From left to right: Cliff, Cal, and Theo.
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Cal and Theo from an alternate universe.
I had this crazy idea and it wouldn’t leave me alone until I drew something for it.
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Cal and Cliff.
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Cliff and Anya from an alternate universe where they are both vampires.
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Another alternate
universe with Theo
and Cliff.
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Hexbreaker
A young girl named Zak teams up with a silent stranger in order to
save her kidnapped mother from an evil witch. Together they navigate
a dystopian labyrinth of a city filled with monsters, curses, and other
sinister characters.
Concepts for Hexbreaker were developed to satisfy my love for the
cyberpunk genre. It’s a story I wanted to throw all my favorite aesthetics
at and just have fun with. Hexbreaker is more action based, featuring
little dialogue and darker themes such as guilt, grief, and facing one’s
demons.
Zak
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Zero
Sloan
Gasten
Zak Grandma
Pip
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Concept art for Hexbreaker.
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Concept Art
for various
stories.
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70 Naia and Taeru from Jemma M. Young and Chad Hardin’s Temerity. @TemerityComic.
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Anya
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Fashion Study
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@VinegarCat’s original character, Marshall.
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